The Kurds are feeling the squeeze from Turkey’s operation to route them from northern Syria, and with their benefactors in Washington unwilling to garner support, they are looking to former enemies to save them.

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (Analysis) — The war in Syria has been relatively absent from media coverage in recent weeks following the declared victory of Syrian, Russian and Iranian militaries in their battle against the U.S.- backed rebels and terror groups, including ISIS and al-Qaeda.

Now Washington is changing its strategy to draw Syria further into chaos and is poised to do just that with the help of Kurdish allies in the north of the country. Allies who have already been twicerebranded by Washington in an attempt to avoid drawing the ire of fellow NATO member Turkey.

But could this plan have already backfired?

When the Kurds recently began losing ground to Turkey in Syria, the U.S. didn’t heed their calls for help. So they turned to the Syrian government seeking help to “protect Syria’s borders.” While this is the correct course under international law, it is sure to stir up mixed feelings in light of the recent history of Kurdish separatism in Syria.

In order to better understand that history, the complex series of alliances and rivalries that impact northern Syria must be understood — beginning with who and where these Kurds are, and the way in which that impacts their relations with Washington, Ankara, and Damascus.

It is as important to understand why Ankara launched the incursion it is calling “Operation Olive Branch,” as it is to understand why one U.S. ally (the People’s Protection Units, or YPG) has called on a U.S. adversary to expel another NATO member.

This fight against a fellow U.S. ally was spurred by Turkish anger over the elements that compose Kurdish forces in northern Syria, owing to the YPG’s connections to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group deemed a terrorist organization by all of NATO. This designation derives from PKK attacks which regularly target NATO member Turkey, despite this, the YPG has been receiving weapons and air support from the U.S. since 2015.

As the fight between the Turks and Kurds intensified on January 25, Kurdish authorities inside the region surrounding Afrin issued a call to the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), rather than to their Western benefactors, to “defend Syria’s borders.” To the casual observer, it may seem odd that Washington’s closest ally in Syria was calling on the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad to rescue it from the incoming Turkish advance. But due to the fact that Afrin, like several other areas in northern Syria, was not historically under YPG control, and has only been occupied by the YPG since a 2012 standoff with Damascus, the Syrian government is the only legitimate authority in the region, leaving the Kurds little choice.

Most major media, whose coverage of the Kurds is typified by the likes of The Washington Post and The New York Times, fail to address this factor. Instead, their coverage is typically sympathetic, as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is the United States’ most effective proxy on the ground in Syria, and it is typically implied that the Kurds have a de facto right to their own territory in the country. These stories leave out key pieces of history which have unfolded in the past six years, and fail to explain is the background of the SDF, or how long they’ve actually occupied Syrian territory.

The Syrian War creates opportunity for YPG

U.S.-backed, Kurdish militias raise their flag in the center of the town of Manbij in Aleppo province, Syria. (ANHA via AP)

Initially founded in 2004 as the armed wing of the Democratic Unionist Party (PYD), the YPG didn’t truly gain notoriety until 2011-12, during the initial stages of the Syrian War.

As Kurdish forces seized Afrin in the north, Damascus was on the verge of being overrun by terrorists and Aleppo had been surrounded and was soon to be seized by groups such as the al Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra in an occupation that would last for four years. It was these circumstances that led Assad — not yet backed by Russian air support — to make the crucial decision to allow the Kurds temporary autonomy in cities like Afrin, Amuda, and Kobani.

Damascus had dealt civilly with Kurdish elements in the past, and Assad claimed early in the war that his government would be open to granting greater autonomy in Kurdish regions. Assad likely felt he would be able to negotiate with the Kurds when the situation calmed since at that moment the rest of Syria had become a breeding ground for more dangerous Salafi groups.

However, the Kurds wasted no time in striking at elements of the Syrian Army (SAA). As far back as 2012, during the early days of the siege of Aleppo, YPG elements were carrying out attacks on the SAA – who were focused on routing groups like Jabhat al Nusra and the Free Syrian Army from the city.

These attacks continued for some time until the primary focus of the Kurds changed when they found the same terror groups fighting the SAA on their own doorsteps. At this point, the Kurds were devoting themselves primarily to keeping groups like al Nusra, IS, and the FSA from gaining ground in Kurdish cities.

The success of the YPG in fending off other rebel factions in Syria, as well as the lack of interference by Damascus, soon saw the Kurds become the dominant political faction in northern Syria. As the YPG continued to keep jihadists out of northern Syria, they began to consolidate power, much to the chagrin of non-Kurdish civilians (the majority in many ‘Kurdish’ cities) as well as rival Kurdish factions. Militias belonging to these marginalized groups were allowed to continue operations alongside the Kurds, but the YPG would be the unchallenged leader of these coalitions.

The situation was exacerbated in 2015 when the U.S. began backing the YPG with air support and encouraged the group to go on the offensive against the Islamic State (ISIS). The new U.S.-backed YPG expansion began in June 2015 with the attack on Tal Abyad, where the YPG worked to retake the city from ISIS, bringing them just 50 miles north of ISIS’ self-declared capital of Raqqa, and further into non-Kurdish areas.

It wasn’t long until the YPG’s new expansion came to be an issue for both the Syrian government and U.S.-allied Turkey. While Damascus took issue with the U.S. openly backing an insurgency, Turkey’s objections ran deeper, despite Washington’s best efforts to force some sort of dialogue between Ankara and Rojava (the Kurdish “capital” in Syria).

Turkey’s conflict with the YPG predates the Syrian war, extending back to the group’s founding, and deriving from the fact that much of the YPG leadership is comprised of members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PKK is considered a terrorist group, not only by Turkey but also by all of Ankara’s western allies, including the United States.

Turkey’s disdain for the PKK, as well their sordid history, isn’t a factor unknown to Washington and has been openly admitted by top Pentagon officials. Barack Obama’s Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter revealed YPG and PKK ties during congressional testimony responding to questions by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. Graham, himself a notorious neoconservative hawk, is by no means a friend to the Syrian government; yet even he conceded that he agreed with Ankara, saying: “They think [U.S. collaboration with PKK elements] is the dumbest idea in the world and I agree with them.”

While Turkey was a member of the U.S. coalition to defeat ISIS, there were concerns echoed by many in the media and defense circles that Ankara was primarily targeting Kurdish forces. Turkey’s relationship within the coalition is incredibly complex (even more so when evidence of Turkish support for ISIS is factored in) — but the Turks main concern remained to deny the PKK (operating as the YPG) from establishing a base of operations on their southern border.

It is important to remember that the U.S. designates the PKK a terrorist organization, despite this – in late 2015 the YPG and subservient local militias came under the umbrella of the newly created, and U.S. backed, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). U.S. generals, such as the head of Special Operations Command, Army General Raymond Thomas, recounted a conversation to reporters in which the U.S. told the YPG, “You have got to change your brand. What do you want to call yourselves besides the YPG?” Thomas went on to laud the fact that the YPG made the changes so quickly, saying:

With about a day’s notice, they [the YPG] declared that they are the Syrian Democratic Forces.”

Soon the new offensive policy of the SDF was unleashed on several areas in Syria, namely Manbij and al-Bab. Yet one operation stood above the rest when it came to showing the true nature of the SDF and its Western allies: the battle of Raqqa.

The Occupation of Raqqa and Hypocrisy of Afrin

A Kurdish flag flies in a traffic roundabout in the Syrian city of Raqqa, Oct. 18, 2017, a day after Kurdish forces declared victory over the northern city. (AP/Asmaa Waguih)

The offensive on Raqqa revealed to the world precisely what Western ambitions in Syria were.

Raqqa had been under ISIS occupation from January of 2014 until the beginning of the Battle of Raqqa in late 2016. Both of these events triggered the massive outflow of both internally displaced refugees in Raqqa and of the local majority non-Kurdish population.

It was during this period that Donald Trump, now president, would propose a U.S.-led initiative for safe zones in Syria (a Clinton proposal during her presidential campaign) administered by Western observers and allies on the ground. The move was seen by Syria and Russia as a blatant attempt by Washington to inject its influence where it didn’t belong. Rather than implementing the U.S. plan, Russia, Iran, and Turkey began leading their own deconfliction and peace initiatives.

U.S. ‘stealth-partition’ initiatives soon failed, yet this didn’t stop the SDF from moving on Raqqa from the north while the Syrian Army fought in the south around Deir Ezzor. During this period the Kurdish-led SDF tore through northern Syria and, according to the BBC, coordinated with the U.S. to arrange safe passage for ISIS fighters out of Raqqa — providing them a pathway into other countries, including Turkey (now a target for ISIS). The SDF also used U.S. muscle to block the Syrian government from reclaiming its own territory in the region, effectively assuring Raqqa would be liberated by Kurdish forces only. Raqqa was soon declared liberated, but Damascus didn’t share this view. The Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Ministry told Syrian state media that, under the control of the SDF and U.S., Raqqa was still an occupied city.

The Syrian minister also pointed to the fact that the U.S. coalition was requesting aid to “rebuild Raqqa,” likely ensuring a lengthy U.S. presence in the city, despite the fact that most of the damage done to the city (now 90 percent leveled) was done by coalition itself. The Minister went on to question the integrity of the SDF, claiming the group had seized “humanitarian aid meant to save the lives of Raqqa locals,” and “that these Forces also confiscate locals’ IDs and documents and subject them to brutal torture and detainment.”

Raqqa may be a good distance from Afrin, but the circumstances surrounding both are similar. During the Turkish bombing of Afrin, Turkey allegedly struck Menagh Air Base, the main facility used to funnel U.S. weapons to the SDF, indicating that Western support for the Kurds stretches across the full expanse of northern Syria.

Top Photo | A Kurdish demonstrator wears pendants showing jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and a party symbol, during a protest against the operation by the Turkish army aimed at ousting the U.S.-backed Kurdish militia from the area of Afrin, Syria in Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 22, 2018. (AP/Hussein Malla)

James Carey is journalist and editor at Geopolitics Alert. He specializes in Middle East and Asian affairs.

Stories published in our Daily Digests section are chosen based on the interest of our readers. They are
republished from a number of sources, and are not produced by MintPress News. The views expressed in
these
articles are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect MintPress News editorial policy.

The Kurds seem to be highly skilled at riding the coat-tails of the wrong regimes. They were once merely a silly tribe whining about “independence” and “sovereignty”. Now, they’ve let Jerusalem and Washington turn them into terrorists and pariahs who’ve been abandoned by their fascist sponsors.

Sinan Yildirim

Of course MPN … dont know whats your agenda on this issue. But what the kurds are doing in North Syria/Iraq today is not different from what the jewish people did to the palestinians. Back then non-jewish people were chased-off from Palestine because it “belongs” to jews … Today (or better: since a few years since the wars started) arabs and turkems are chased-off from North-Syria/Iraq because these places “belong” to kurds … The US-Support on this matter should ring your alarm-bells. But if you want to Mainstream-Media this … so be it.

America needs to be destroyed! The complicity of the so called international community becomes unbearable!

Leatherneck

Take a dirt nap, you ☭ommunist POS.

tapatio

Poor widdle US Schutzstaffel clown is too stupid to comprehend that the US has been fighting for Jewish supremacy – NOT “Peace, Justice and the American Way”.

You are and I was (45 years ago) NOTHING but an underpaid thug for the Zionist-Talmudic Cancer.

Leatherneck

So then, pig, you don’t deny being an anti-American, anti-Israeli, ☭ommunist POS.

tapatio

Try, hard as it might be, to LEARN something, mooooron. Judaism is Bolshevism/Communism. Just who the F do you think started the Bolshevik “revolution”??? A gang of GERMAN JEWS WORKING FOR THE SAME FAMILY THAT OWNS TRUMP AND THE FEDERAL RESERVE………………..

Rothschild-Bilderberg Criminal Bankster Cartel’s sponsorship of the Bolshevik-Communist “Revolution”.
Karl Marx was Jewish, a 3rd cousin of the reigning Rothschild, and both he and Friedrich Engels had close connections to the Rothschild banking family. There is a great deal more evidence that the Rothschilds sponsored the Bolshevik “Revolution” and the slaughter of over fifty million Christian (with some Muslim) Russians. There were almost no Jewish victims of this genocide.
Letters written by Baruch Levy, a close associate of the
Rothschild family, and by Lev Trotsky/Bronstein…..“The Jewish people as a whole will become its own Messiah. It will attain world domination by the dissolution of other races, by the abolition of frontiers, the annihilation of monarchy and by the establishment of a world republic in which the J6ws will everywhere exercise the privilege of citizenship.
In this New World Order, the children of Israel will furnish all the leaders without encountering opposition. The Governments of the different peoples forming the world republic will fall without difficulty into the hands of the J6ws. It will then be possible for the J6wish rulers to abolish private property and everywhere to make use of the resources of the state.
Thus will the promise of the Talmud be fulfilled, in which it is said that when the Messianic time is come, the J6ws will have all the property of the whole world in their hands.”
–Baruch Levy, Letter to Karl Marx (written – 1879), printed in La Revue de Paris, p. 574, June 1, 1928

“We should turn Russia into a desert populated with white Ni**ers. We will impose upon them such a tyranny that was never dreamt by the most hideous despots of the East. The peculiar trait of that tyranny is that it will be enacted from the left rather than the right and it will be red rather than white in color. Its color will be red literally because we would spill such torrents of blood that they will pale all human losses of the capitalist wars and make (the survivors) shudder.
THE LARGEST OVERSEAS BANKS WILL COOPERATE WITH US MOST CLOSELY (Rothschild Cartel, which financed the Bolsheviks). If we win the Revolution and squash Russia, on the funeral pyres of its remains we will strengthen the power of Zionism and become a power the whole world would drop in the face of on its knees. We will show (to the world) what real power means. By way of terror and blood baths we will bring the Russian intelligentsia into a state of total stupor, to idiocy, to the animal state of being…. And so far our young men dressed in leather – the sons of watch repair men from Odessa and Orsha, Gomel and Vinnitza – oh, how beautifully, how brilliantly do they master hatred of everything Russian!
With what a great delight do they physically destroy the Russian intelligentsia ~ officers, engineers, teachers, priests, generals, agronomists, academicians, writers!” ~ Leib Bronstein (also known as Lev TROTSKY)
Few in the world today are aware that the original leadership of the Bolshevik-Communist “Revolution” was almost entirely Jewish and VERY FEW WERE RUSSIAN.
*************
Everything below was verified through at least two traditional sources sources.
Leaders of the Bolshevik/Communist “Revolution” in Russia. These are the people who fomented this revolution and carried it out. After they had won, they embarked on a slaughter of 30 Million Russians, ALL Christians and a few Muslims. There were no known Jewish victims of this genocidal act.
Leading Bolsheviks…….
Vladimir Lenin (aka Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) Russian, Jewish
Lev Trotsky (aka Bronstein) Jewish
Lazar M. Kaganovich Jewish (oversaw slaughter of
30+ million Russian Christians and Muslims)
Alexander Israel Helphand [aka “Parvus”] Jewish
(helped Trotsky develop the theory of “permanent revolution.”)
Avel Enukidze Jewish
Mikhail Kalinin Jewish
Nikolai Bukharin Jewish
Mikhail Tomsky Jewish
Mikhail Lashevich Jewish
Lev Kamenev Jewish
Yevgeni Preobrazhensky uncertain
Leonid Serebryakov Jewish
Vladimir Lenin Jewish
Alexei Rykov Jewish
Grigori Y. Sokolnikov Jewish
Grigory Zinoviev [aka Apfelbaum; aka Radomyslsky
Jewish
Felix Dzherzhinsky Jewish
(founder of Cheka/NKVD/KGB/etc)
Lavrenti Beria Jewish
(Turned Cheka/NKVD/KGB into a monster. Beria instigated the mass executions of the Katyn massacre)
Yakov Sverdlov [aka Solomon] Jewish
(supervised massacre of Czar’s family)
Sergei M. Kirov Jewish
(supervised party purges/executions of late 1930s – 20 million dead)
Yakov Yurovsky Jewish
(carried out massacre of Czar’s family)
(other members of the Czar death squad: Goloshchekin, Syromolotov, Safarov, Voikov, Yurovsky……..all Jewish)
Nikolai Bukharin Jewish
Ilya Ehrenburg Jewish (Propaganda Minister)

Leatherneck

Nice rant, loser. But then, just another ☭ommunist rant.

ties

Remove NATO and the CIA backed Muslim terrorists and all will be good…. Same with Iraq and Afghanistan…. American is going to be bankrupted soon anyway …. And the Open borders globalists will make bank from that too.

tapatio

All will not be “good” until the US has had its own radical regime change, NATO no longer exists and the Rothschild-Bilderberg Disease has been eradicated along with its spawn in Palestine.

ties

Rothschild , Rockefeller and the Bush’s will collapse the dollar soon then the Euro making billions each time

tapatio

The Rothschild-Bilderberg disease is tied to the dollar and Euro. If those fiat currencies collapse, Rothschild goes with them.

The Ruble and Yuan are taking over world markets and they belong to Russia and China – not Rothschild banks. The US dollar will not (I hope) collapse, but will sink to the status of any other currency (Peso, Yen, etc). The Euro may or may not collapse and Europe revert to separate currencies.

ties

The Rothschilds , Bush’s and Rockefellers are trading the dollar for gold and rubles and Yuan …. They are not for the American people and we will lose while they gain

ties

I would like to see Europe go back to separate currencies ,, I think the EU is a very bad idea and NATO too…..

tapatio

The EU and Euro were invented to give the Rothschilds better control over Europe. As BRICS/OBOR disolves the Rothschild-Bilderberg cartel, the Eu and Euro will fade away.

ties

they with the Bush family and the Rockefellers will all ways try to control until they are put down… which will happen hopefully when the fall of the empire… but they will swap currencies

tapatio

In Putin and Xi I’m pretty sure that Rothschild has met its match. So far they’ve out-thought the Satanists and their minions.

I doubt that the Rothschilds will be able to speculate their way into the Ruble and Yuan. That can be blocked fairly easily as I understand.

As fanatical as Putin is about Russia and as hard as Rothschild has worked to destroy Russia over the last 100+ years, I imagine that very bad things may start happening to the Rothschild family somewhere in the future.

ties

you are a smart man…..After years of American propaganda I went to Russia afraid and now I think Russia is a very great place and the people love Putin.

tapatio

I don’t know that I’m smart. But, 35 years of teaching have taught me how to organize information.
Russia is one place I’ve never been and the country I have most wanted to see. The Russians I’ve met have been great people and all the evidence shows that it’s a wonderful country.
Centuries ago, when my wife and I took a wanderjahr before settling down to university, babies, etc, all the begging we could muster didn’t get us visas for Russia. Now, after the crash of ’08, we really can’t afford to go.

ties

Putin has done an amazing job,,,after he ran out the criminals from government Russia gets better every year. And each year I go to Europe it becomes more of a sad place and more dangerous….. If you every get a chance to go to Russia go see Saint Petersburg and Moscow and the golden ring . The people are a real treasure (so peaceful and happy)

tapatio

You’re right. But, I personally dislike Putin – too many years with a wife who despises male-chauvenist-pigs – which Vlad is to the max. But, President Putin is great for Russia and for the world.

Even more important is the Putin/Xi combination. BRICS and OBOR are, I hope, our salvation.

The only way I’ll ever see Russia is for the disaster of 2008 to be reversed. We’re secure and can travel in North America easily. But, Europe and beyond are now out of reach. Our pensions and SS won’t cut it.

ties

I think buying a few thousand dollars worth of rubles will fix up a income for the future …. I buy silver and Rubles

tapatio

We don’t keep currencies except for short term emergencies. We have a “hobby” farm that can take care of most needs and keep gold and silver in case cash becomes worthless.

ties

cool , me too I raise chickens and quail , in chicken tractors for meat and in cages for eggs and they get a few hours of free range time. Hard with all the coyotes , wolfs and bobcats owls and hawks. We have over 60 fruit trees and a huge vertical garden. In raised gardens we rase lots of garlic and onions…. All organic plus Asparagus , rhubarb , Black berries and raspberries. Honeybees and I suck at strawberries

tapatio

We have about 5 acres on which we grow apples, pears, straw/black/blueberries and a pretty decent selection of veggies. Our daughter and her hubby, who live on the island, have taken over some of the heavier gardening.

We also have goats, chickens and plenty of cats. On Puget Sound there really isn’t much to bother the animals. Eagles and hawks have never attacked the chickens. Our birds have a quarter-acre yard and each has a wing clipped to keep them in. The goats have another, larger yard and toys to climb. Their milk is a lot better than cow’s and a goat can go to the vet’s in a VW bus – cows can’t.

ties

Very good we even make our own cheese from our goats milk… We must have lots in common. We also have foud a way to make our Butler Bobwhite’s lay eggs most of the year for meat and we use a incubator

Luke

The Kurds are a Disgrace they were American puppets they should have supported Syria,Iran & Russia but they decided to support Zionist America,ISIS,Saudi Arabia now look at what happened America/Trump told you to kick rocks now you are Begging Assad for help after you betrayed him and the country you live in? Most Kurds say they are Syrian first it is stupid Kurdish Terrorists like the PKK who don’t support Syrian people you are a Disgrace to all Syrians how many Syrians did you unknowingly killed by helping ISIS? Now you are crawling back to Assad for Help telling him “He needs to protect Syrian Borders”? What if Assad tries to help you will you turn your back on him again? How is he supposed to trust you? before the Proxy war Assad never ever gave the Kurds problems he let you live in peace it just pisses me of the way the Kurds treated Assad and the people of Syria when America was arming/Funding the SDF! Once Assad Defeats your enemy you (Kurds) better go home with your Tail between your legs and stay home no more problems from you! Leave it to Assad.Iran,Russia to clean house and fix your problems!

PEACE IN SYRIA!

ties

soon they all will bail off the sinking ship America…. soon we will be a third world country

Lydia

Goℴgle is giving to people of each age 97 US dollars per hour to do easy tasks off a home computer .. Do job Some just few hours in a whole day and live happy more time with your family … You can also join this offer!!!last Wednesday I got a brand new McLaren F2 after I been making $9932 last five weeks .no doubt it is my favourite-job however you could now not forgive yourself if you do not read it.!qf382t:⇉⇉⇉ http://GoogleCyberHowToMakeMoneyAtHome/get/pay/$97/perhour… ♥♥v♥m♥♥♥u♥♥♥y♥x♥♥s♥♥♥f♥♥w♥♥♥g♥♥♥z♥♥v♥♥k♥♥t♥♥♥j♥♥♥h♥♥♥q♥♥♥u♥a♥c♥i♥♥v♥y♥♥♥f♥u♥♥♥z:::::!wg093s:wk

Guy

The Kurds should have supported Bashar al Assad from the beginning .They were cajoled by the Americans with promises of their own state and now they realize what kind of predicament they are in.You can bet that the CIA will be up to it’s machinations in order to give Russia it’s taste of what is presently happening in Afghanistan for the US .Never ending war.

The recent devastating car bombing in Mogadishu has been blamed by Somali officials on the terrorist group al-Shabab. But the violence (and famine) that have beset Somalia have deeper roots — decades of imperialism and intervention, and use of Somalia as a staging grounds for the “war on terror.”

Buried among statistics on gun profits and lobbying efforts is the terrifying reality of just how unique America’s gun obsession and associated violence are. And the equally terrifying plan by the NRA to “normalize” gun possession in nearly every nook and cranny of American life.

U.S. campaigns for regime change characteristically focus on the “madness” of the “dictators” to be toppled. In the case of North Korea, the narrative is spiced by the country’s developing nuclear capabilities — which North Korea views as its main line of defense against . . . regime change.

Aung Su Kyi, the leader of Myanmar, has been accused of “legitimizing genocide” against the country’s Rohingya Muslims, despite being a Nobel Prize laureate. Her country’s military has massacred thousands of Rohingya, leading some to call for Kyi’s Nobel Prize to be revoked.